Crush
by rampant-gumdramon
Summary: What are these strange feelings Yuu has been having toward his friend? It can't be love. Love would be wrong. Love would be unacceptable. So what is it then?


**A/N: Hi guys! This is a oneshot I've been working on. I'm going to start doing these for a little while. I'm taking inspiration from songs now, and the inspiration for this one came from the song "Crush" by David Archuleta, hence the title. I hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think.**

"Yuu!" Tagiru screamed, running up to his friend.

The blonde stopped in his tracks. Crap. He really wasn't in a mood to deal with Tagiru today. He was tired, and they had a test tomorrow. He really just wanted to go home, take a shower, and study. Plus, he'd had an awful lot on his mind today. Nevertheless.. "Yeah?" he asked, turning around to find Tagiru bent over and panting behind him.

"Why were you walking so fast?!" the brunet complained. "I barely caught you before you got out of the schoolyard."

"I wasn't walking fast," Yuu replied. "I waited for you, but you were arguing with Mami for over 15 minutes, so I left."

"You could've brought me with you," Tagiru said with an understanding grin.

Yuu smiled in return. "Anyway, what do you need?"

"Need?" Tagiru asked, pouting. "Can I not talk to you unless I need something?"

"No, it's not that," Yuu said, shocked at how offended his friend seemed. "It's just that, well-"

Tagiru held his gaze, his puppy dog face making Yuu uncomfortable for some unexplainable reason.

"I'm really tired, Tagiru," Yuu answered. "I just want to go home and study for our test."

"Oh," Tagiru answered, hanging his head. "Nevermind, then."

"Huh?" Yuu replied. "Nevermind, what?" _So he __**did**__ have a reason for running all the way down here._

"Well," Tagiru said, nervously. "I was kind of hoping that maybe you would come spend the night with me."

Yuu blinked a couple of times, trying to clear his head. Tagiru wanted him to spend the night with him?

"It's okay, though," Tagiru said with a bright smile - probably a forced one, Yuu thought. "I can see that you're tired. And of course you want to get a good grade tomorrow."

"Yeah," Yuu replied, still thinking. He really had wanted to go straight home, but now the thought of spending the evening with a friend was starting to sound more appealing.

"But," Tagiru added. "If you spend the night with me, we can study together." He smiled. "Everything is more fun with a friend, right?"

_If I go_, Yuu thought,_ we could study together. Then, maybe Tagiru will pass tomorrow too. He's going to have to pull his grades up if he wants to pass this year. Plus, we could play games or something afterward. It could be just as productive and restful as an evening at my house would be._ "Okay, Tagiru" he said with a bright smile. "I'm in."

"Really?!" Tagiru asked, grinning widely.

"Yeah," Yuu said with a shrug. "I've never spent a night with you, so it'll be a new experience."

"Hey, guys!" an all too familiar voice called from behind them.

Both boys turned to find Taiki walking their way.

"Hey, Taiki-san," Yuu greeted him.

"Taiki-san!" Tagiru cried, running up to his friend and barely managing to stop before colliding with him. "Yuu is spending the night with me!" he said. "Do you want to come?"

Taiki smiled appreciatively, but placed a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "I can't," he said. "I have to substitute in place of one of the players in the baseball club at their game tonight."

"You _have_ to?" Tagiru asked, pouting. "Or you _want_ to?"

Taiki smiled. "Both. I owe it to them. A lot of guys on that team have been really good friends to me. I owe them. Plus, it couldn't hurt to test out my skills. I haven't played in a while."

"Aww," Yuu whined, playfully. "You don't want to help Tagiru and me study for our test tomorrow?"

"Oh, please," Taiki replied, smiling. "As if you need help studying. You guys can handle it, I'm sure."

"Yeah," Yuu said, looking at Tagiru. "If this one doesn't drive me up the wall before the end of the night."

"Give me some credit," Tagiru replied. "I'm a good time."

He was right. Yuu had to admit the night at Tagiru's house was fun.

When they got there, the first thing they did was study. Yuu was surprised when Tagiru was the first to pull out the books.

"Okay," the brunet had said. "Let's get this over with!"

"Don't rush it," Yuu replied. "If you immerse yourself in what you're learning and actually make an effort to be interested in it, studying can be fun."

Tagiru frowned. "I don't think so," he said.

"You want to be a superstar, right?" Yuu asked, knowing exactly how his friend's mind worked.

"I already am," Tagiru said, smiling proudly.

"I know," Yuu agreed. "But you can always shine a little brighter. What if you got the highest grade in the class tomorrow?"

"Yeah, like that'll happen," Tagiru said, rolling his eyes. "My grades will never be higher than yours."

"Unless you set your mind to it," Yuu replied. "I know how motivated you get when you have a goal, Tagiru. This one might not be as extravagant as saving the world, but it's a challenge isn't it? Isn't that what you live for?" The blonde smiled to himself as he could practically see the gears of Tagiru's mind turning.

The brunet was silent for a moment as his mind processed this.

"It's fine," Yuu said, turning to his book. "You're right. It's not like you could ever get a higher grade than me anyway."

"What?!" Tagiru screamed. "I'll have the highest grade in class tomorrow. You just watch!"

Yuu smiled to himself as Tagiru pulled his book so close to his face that it seemed impossible for him to actually be able to read what was on the pages. For about forty-five minutes, they sat in complete silence.

Yuu found himself smiling more and more as the minutes passed. Every time he heard Tagiru turn a page, the sound caused him to subconsciously glance over at the brunet. He really did seem completely immersed in what he was reading, to Yuu's surprise. Had what he'd said affected Tagiru that much?

Once they were done studying, they'd eaten. Tagiru's mom was a great cook and welcomed Yuu into their home with open arms.

"You're the first friend he's brought home in a few years," she'd told him when Tagiru had gone to the bathroom. "You must really mean something special to him."

For some reason, her words had been on his mind all night since then.

After dinner, Yuu had taken a shower while Tagiru played video games in his room. After Yuu got out, he'd sat in Tagiru's room playing video games while the brunet took his shower.

* * *

><p>When Tagiru had gotten out of the shower, he walked into his room wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.<p>

"Tagiru!" Yuu cried, blushing madly at the sight - for some reason. "What are you doing?"

"I forgot to take clothes in with me," Tagiru shrugged. "Why are you so red?"

"Uh," Yuu said. That was a damn good question. Why was he blushing? "Y-you just caught me off guard when you walked in like that," he said. Yeah, that sounded right. Tagiru just caught him off guard. That was the only explanation... Unless- No! He pushed any other thoughts out as quickly as possible. That was the reason. He was just surprised.

"I'm going to change behind you," Tagiru said. "Don't look."

"Okay," Yuu replied, trying to calm down. What was happening to him?!

"Unless you want to," Tagiru said suggestively from behind him.

"Huh?!" Yuu cried. "Tagiru, stop being stupid! Just let me know when you're done."

"I was just playing," the brunet said from behind him, sounding somewhat sad. "I'm sorry."

Yuu kept quiet for a few moments listening to the sounds of drawers being opened and closed behind him and clothing sliding over skin. After another moment, Tagiru took a seat on the floor beside him.

"Sorry," Tagiru repeated. "I didn't mean to freak you out. I really was just joking."

"I know you were," Yuu replied, his mind in a distant place. He'd known in the first place that Tagiru was joking. So why had he reacted that way? "It's alright," he continued. "I overreacted. Let's play."

"Okay," Tagiru said, picking up the other controller. "What level do you like? Easy, medium, or hard?"

"I wasn't talking about the game," Yuu said in a tone just as suggestive as the one Tagiru had used earlier.

"Huh?" the brunet said, quickly turning to him.

Yuu had a smirk plastered to his otherwise sweet face as well as a devious look in his eyes that made Tagiru's entire body burn with a heat he couldn't understand.

_Yes!_ Tagiru was blushing! So, there wasn't anything wrong with him. Or if there was, then the same thing was wrong with Tagiru anyway. For some reason, that made him feel better.

"Just kidding," Yuu said with a playful smile.

"O-oh, heheh," Tagiru laughed, nervously, turning back to the game.

Yuu smiled to himself. This was too much fun. He leaned in until his lips were mere inches from Tagiru's ear. "But to answer your question," he whispered. "Hard."

He could hear Tagiru gulp, and it seemed the brunet's breathing was uneven after that. As Tagiru turned back to Yuu, they both found their lips within a couple inches of each other.

"What are you doing?" Tagiru asked. The curiosity and confusion in his voice was strong, but it held no sign of anger.

Yuu frowned. What _was_ he doing? And why wasn't Tagiru freaked out by the things he was saying? Why was he_ trying_ to freak Tagiru out?! No, no. It wasn't that. He was just experimenting. He had to know if he could make Tagiru react to him in the same way that he'd reacted to Tagiru only minutes earlier.

The way he'd been feeling all day, it was strange. Even in class earlier, he'd found himself glancing up at Tagiru all throughout the day. The brunet seemed to wear a constant look of befuddlement in class that Yuu found absolutely adorable. He loved how Tagiru was always the first to ask questions about every subject the teacher taught. It wasn't that Tagiru didn't care about school. He was very fond of it from what Yuu could tell. Maybe he just had too much going on his mind to remember it all though. Most likely he spent a lot of time in class thinking about Gumdramon and what their next hunt would be like. Yuu could understand that. As much as he would hate to admit it aloud, he daydreamed in class sometimes about being with Damemon. And oddly enough, he thought about Gumdramon a lot too nowadays. And Tagiru. He thought about joining them on their hunts and how much fun it would be to play with Gumdramon when he was all hyper. He thought about how happy it made him that Tagiru would hug Damemon when he saw him. Why were all these things suddenly on his mind? What was happening?

"I'll be right back," Yuu answered as calmly as he could fake being. "I'm going to call Nee-san to tell her goodnight."

"Okay," Tagiru said with the smallest of smiles. "Tell her I said 'Hi'."

"Yeah," Yuu said, standing up. "I will."

* * *

><p>It only took a couple of rings before Nene answered. "Hello?"<p>

"Nee-san," Yuu said, feeling his heart race. He really wanted to talk to her about what he was feeling, but what was the best way to explain it? If he misworded one single part, it would come across as him having... intimate feelings for Tagiru, and that definitely couldn't be the case!

"Yuu," Nene greeted. "Are you getting ready for bed?"

"Actually," Yuu said. "I'm spending the night with Tagiru. We're about to play some video games before we go to bed."

"Oh, that's nice!" Nene said, sounding excited. "You've never spent the night with Tagiru-kun before, have you?"

"Uh, n-no," Yuu stammered. He just wanted to get this off his chest already. "Nee-san, I feel strange."

"Oh?" Nene replied, instantly sounding worried. "Why is that?"

"I feel differently toward Tagiru than I used to," Yuu said, knowing that it was too vague of an explanation.

"Of course you do," Nene said. "You two are becoming a lot closer now."

Yuu was silent for a moment, contemplating how to word what he really meant. What did he really mean? "Nee-san," he began, but stopped. He still wasn't sure what to say.

"Oh," Nene murmured through the phone. "Yuu, are you attracted to Tagiru?"

"What?!" Yuu said, though he actually wasn't surprised at all that his sister had assumed that. After all, that was what it seemed like, right? "Nee-san, that's ridiculous! He's my friend."

"Then, what is it?" she asked, sounding confused. "How many strange feelings can you possibly have toward your friend? Are you mad at him for something?"

"No," Yuu answered.

"Then, what are you feeling, Yuu?"

Yuu's heart really was racing now. And he'd thought it was beating fast earlier!

"I don't know," he whispered with tears in his eyes. "This is weird, Nee-san. I don't like it."

"Do you think you need to go home?" Nene asked, sounding as if she herself were hurting over this situation. "Maybe you just need a little separation from him right now."

"Nee-san, what if you're right?" Yuu blurted out.

"Huh?" his sister replied.

Yuu took a few deep breaths, feeling like the world was spinning around him. "What if I'm attracted to Tagiru?"

There was silence on the other end for a moment. "Do you think that's what it is?" she asked.

That wasn't what Yuu had wanted to hear. He'd wanted a straight answer. He couldn't read his sister's tone. Couldn't tell if she was judging him right now. "I don't know," he replied, trying to be cautious.

He knew, though. Nene had been right. How many things could it possibly be? He'd suspected it all day, but had just now been able to admit it to himself. Though he still wasn't positive that's what it was, he was ninety percent sure. He'd never found himself staring at Tagiru in class until today, but now that he thought on it, he did it quite often. Today was just the first time he'd begun to think anything about it. The idea made him sick. What if Nee-san couldn't accept it? If she did accept it, how would he ever tell Tagiru? That idea terrified him. No, he couldn't tell Tagiru. That was begging for an end to their friendship.

"Well," Nene said softly. "He's a sweet boy, and he's absolutely adorable. I can see why you would be."

Yuu let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding in. "You don't think I'm weird?"

Nene giggled. "No, little brother. You're you. Who's to determine what's weird and what's not? You have feelings for someone that it makes total sense for you to have feelings for. Do you plan to tell him?"

Yuu smiled bigger than he knew he could. "I don't know," he said, laughing for no reason in particular. He just suddenly felt very happy.

"Oh, my little brother has his first crush!" Nene cooed.

"Nee-san, I'll talk to you later," Yuu said, still smiling. "Good night. I love you."

"I love you too," Nene replied. "Sweet dreams, Yuu."

As he hung up the phone, though he was happy, Yuu suddenly found himself feeling nervous again. He knew how he felt. For certain. That was a relief. But now he had to go back to Tagiru's room and face him. He'd have to act normal. No more flirting, real or fake.

When he entered the room, Tagiru was lying on the bed doing something on his phone. Yuu glanced at the television which was now turned off. "Did you get tired of the game?" he asked, clearly catching Tagiru by surprise as the other bolted up into a sitting position.

"What?" Tagiru asked quickly.

Yuu smiled. "I asked if you got tired of playing."

"Oh," Tagiru replied awkwardly, glancing at the television. "Well, you were outside for a while. I wasn't sure if you'd be up for playing when you came back in. Besides, it's probably time for us to get some sleep, don'tcha think?"

"Yeah," Yuu said, glancing at the clock. It was almost nine-thirty. Not very late, but maybe it would be best for them to go ahead and go to sleep.

"Are you cool with sharing a bed?" Tagiru asked, scooting toward the wall to give Yuu room.

"Uh, yeah," Yuu answered, desperately trying to keep his body temperature from rising. He couldn't let Tagiru catch him blushing at the idea of them sleeping together.

"Good," Tagiru said. "Can you pull the light?"

"Yeah," Yuu answered, turning off the light on his way to the bed.

The silence wasn't exactly uncomfortable as he slid in next to Tagiru. What was uncomfortable was trying to find an acceptable way of positioning their bodies in such a small amount of space. When Yuu turned away from Tagiru, he couldn't move an inch without his butt touching Tagiru's crotch. When this happened, it caused him to blush madly and do away with that position immediately. As he quickly turned to face Tagiru, he found his lips only an inch at most from Tagiru's lips. The brunet seemed to feel Yuu's breath on his lips as his eyes flew open and he held an unbreakable eye contact with the blonde. Yuu quickly scooted back, nearly falling off the bed before Tagiru grabbed his arm, pulling him back up and causing Yuu to land nearly on top of him.

"I'm sorry there's so little space," Tagiru said. "It's kind of a one person bed, and we're kind of two different people."

Yuu laughed. "Kind of," he agreed. "But it's fine with me. I just don't want you to be uncomfortable." He was surprised at the truth in what he'd said. He really was only worried Tagiru's comfort at the moment. He'd had absolutely no problem with the first position he'd tried. It actually appealed to him... But Tagiru would've found it strange.

Tagiru smiled. "I'll be comfortable no matter what position we're in," he said.

"Really?" Yuu asked, his heart speeding up again. "You will?"

"Yeah," Tagiru said, but frowned as he began to blush. "Uh! B-but if it helps you, I'll turn over this way and we can just sleep back to back!" he said, quickly pulling the covers over his face and turning to face the wall.

Yuu froze. What had just happened?! Why was Tagiru blushing? His head was spinning as he laid back down facing away from Tagiru. Did the brunet like him back? Why had he reacted that way?!

Sleep did not come easily to Yuu that night. He couldn't seem to get his mind to stop racing with curiosity as to what Tagiru might or might not feel for him. Oh how quickly things had changed. How could things possibly get weirder than this?

* * *

><p>"Woah!" Tagiru cried. "Check it out, <em>Yuu-sama<em>! I got a higher grade than you!"

"What?!" Yuu cried, looking up from his desk at the beaming brunet standing over him. "Let me see that!" He snatched the paper from Tagiru's hands and held it next to his own. Rolling his eyes, he scoffed. "Don't pat yourself on the back," he said, handing the paper back to Tagiru. "You only beat me by two points."

Tagiru accepted the paper happily. "But that's two points that I got and you didn't," he bragged with an arrogant grin that made Yuu's stomach burn with irritation.

"It's also just one test," he reminded the brunet. "Plus, I can barely keep my eyes open. That's the only reason you beat me. You've got a long way to go before your GPA is anywhere close to mine."

"Challenge accepted!" Tagiru growled, glaring at the blonde. "I'll show you!"

As the brunet stomped back over to his seat, Yuu rolled his eyes. How could he have thought he had feelings for Tagiru last night?! That was so laughable!

"Hey, Yuu," Tagiru said, glancing back over at him. "I know you stayed at my house last night, but since it was kinda fun and now it's Friday, do you think maybe you'd want to-?"

"Yes," Yuu answered, cutting Tagiru off unintentionally.

Tagiru stopped in the midst of packing his books. "Oh, um.. okay." He smiled, walking back over to Yuu's desk.

"What?" the blonde asked, looking up at him.

Before Yuu had time to say anything else, Tagiru leaned down and wrapped his arms around the blonde, squeezing him lightly. "Thanks for encouraging me to do well on the test. It meant more than you know."

As hard as Yuu was trying to deny his feelings right now, he couldn't deny the way too evident blush that was creeping up his body. This was what he wanted. To be able to do this all the time. He loved Tagiru. He liked Tagiru's parents as much as he could from talking to them for as shortly as he had. He loved Gumdramon. And he knew Tagiru loved Damemon. This was what he wanted his future to be. He still wasn't sure how Tagiru felt about him or if the brunet had even the slightest of feelings for him. Why did Tagiru have to pick this aspect of himself to be the one that was hard for Yuu to read?

Yuu sighed, returning the hug. "No problem," he replied. "I'll always be here for you."

Whatever happened, as long as Tagiru was in his life, he would be okay.


End file.
